I was wondering if there was an iPhone application that would continuously reads the GPS location and saves them for later analysis. For example, I would like to be able to tell where I was at certain point of time, or how long did it take me to travel from one place to another.

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Is some applications from listed above can record track in background (or with locked screen) using power save mode? It means that software must switch off GPS between the fixes. I need an application for a days-long trips, so it is not necessary to pick a point every minute, 10-15 min interval would be enough for 200-300 km track :)
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user79000May 25 '14 at 18:12

I like @bbum's choices as some of the best on the store and there are a ton out there. I like MotionX for the map overlays looking like topographical maps. I find cyclemeter /runmeter /walkmeter to get cleaner track data - especially if you choose the specific activity or tune the constants in the app.
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bmike♦Jul 8 '11 at 21:28

It's described as a swiss army knife for GPS tracking and I tend to agree. I had originally bought it to track backwoods bike rides but quickly found myself using it for all kinds of tracking: walks, runs, even car drives.

They have a modular approach to configuring the application. You can slice and view the data in all kinds of ways thanks to the pluggable interface. Analyze it over time for peaks, overlay it on a map. Very cool stuff.

I would recommend Runmeter as the best tool for getting raw tracking data. (it's the same as walkmeter / cyclemeter - so pick the color and icon you prefer)

It comes pre-loaded with at least 16 activity types and you can control all sorts of activities (motorcycle / kayak / cross country ski / downhill ski). You can add or delete these as you wish, so it's very user friendly and customizable.

The developer responds quickly to support questions and it seems designed to give you your data and not force you into using one web service or locking you in to a corporate database. (ahem - yes I'm thinking of you, Nike+)

Here is a chart I've found to be fair and accurate comparison of what the app can do compared to other running GPS apps that I have actually used. (but do note it's made by the company that made Runmeter - hone in on the things you need and ignore the rest - like if you don't really care about twitter integration)

It also is easy to use on it's own with mapping, graphs as well as integrating with a large handful of popular social sharing services if that is your preference. Lastly, it has no subscription and you don't need to make any in-app purchases if you don't want more than one voice (and even that isn't needed to get the data out of the app.)

After each activity, you can configure it to email you a link to a kml file for additional processing as well as transfer the files through iTunes and USB.

Here's one shot of the detail you can have over the GPS tracking if you wish.

Both Google Maps and the stock Maps application for iOS do this. Google's is a little better but Apple's is built into the OS. The only problem with the Apple solution is that it will only show you places that you "frequent".

ViewRanger will track you as you walk, it can use several types of map including OpenStreetMap and also several premium paid for maps, all of which are better than Apple or Google for walking in that they show more footpaths